The first two days of the honeymooning couple's trip were nothing short of busy. With Judy wanting an educational experience at the Zootopia Space Station, and Nick wanting to surf the waves at the Beach of Zootopia, their schedules were immediately booked. The first day was spent at the space station, where an impassive Nick followed a bouncing Judy on a personalized tour they had paid extra for.
"It gives it a personal touch," Judy had said with a smirk as she handed over a considerable amount of money to the clerk at the tour ticket booth.
"I love how you wanted to go to the space station, and I wanted to go to the beach, so we compromised and now we're at the space station," Nick remarked with thick sarcasm.
Judy had only responded with a roll of her eyes.
As their lion tour guide led them through floor after floor of the space station, Nick found that watching Judy's reaction to the information she was receiving was far more entertaining than the tour itself. You would have thought her dream would have been to pursue a career as an astronaut rather than a police officer; her ears remained attentive during the entirety of the two-hour tour, and her nose wiggled excitedly any time the tour guide pointed out a special piece of equipment used in the space station's latest project. Occasionally, she would even turn around and fix Nick with a massive smile, her paws clenched in fists out of pure excitement. At the end of the tour, Judy really could not stop talking, her mouth articulating her thoughts as she processed all of the new information at a rapid pace, her joy making her fluffball of a tail twitch with pure happiness. She was literally jumping up and down as she talked, even so to the point that Nick had to catch her a few times before she ran into other animals on the street as they walked around the Canal District. That night, she slept in a navy blue t-shirt with the Zootopia Space Station's logo plastered across the front of it – a souvenir she had to get, of course.
On the second day, the fox and the rabbit found themselves at the beach, soaking up the sun and taking in the breathtaking view of the ocean. Nick insisted they attempt a surfing lesson with the penguin surfers on the beach, surfing being an activity neither one of the two had ever taken part in.
"It'll be a learning experience – you know you love those," Nick had said with a grin as he watched a penguin strap a surfboard leash to Judy's right foot.
However, Nick soon found that he regretted this learning experience as Judy easily outdid him in surfing. While Nick regularly tumbled off his board into the crashing waves, Judy manipulated her board through the water with ease.
"You know, the beach isn't as cool as I thought," Nick had breathlessly called to Judy after pulling himself back up onto his board for the umpteenth time.
At this, Judy had laughed and merely shrugged as she glided past him.
"Call it payback for you insisting I wear a bikini!" she yelled back.
After surfing, the two played several games of sand volleyball on the beach, got frozen lemonade from a nearby stand, and walked along the shoreline as they held paws, letting the waves gently caress their feet as the water washed ashore.
On the third day, the two took a more relaxing approach, choosing to stay in their beach house and have a video game tournament against one another. When the tournament ended in a bitter tie, the couple decided to go out and see a late movie at the theatre in the Canal District. It was well past midnight when the two began walking up the driveway to the house.
"All I'm saying is that it was a cheesy movie."
"Carrots! How dare you? That movie was beautiful!"
"Is that why you were crying when they confessed that they loved each other?" Judy laughed as she dug in her pockets for her keys.
"I wasn't crying, I just have bad allergies."
"Funny how I'm just now learning of these allergies after eight years with you."
"Are you telling me you don't have allergies every eight years? I thought that was a common thing."
"Nick!" Judy laughed with a shake of her head before her eyes rested on the white front door of their beach house. "Nick…"
At the change in her tone, Nick followed Judy's glance to the door, which was slightly ajar and lightly swinging in the night breeze.
"I locked the door when we left," Judy whispered.
Without a moment's hesitation, Nick pulled his police-issued tranquilizer gun from his belt. At the sight of it, Judy blanched.
"You took that to the movies?" she hissed. "We agreed to leave our guns in our bags! We're on vacation!"
"You can lecture me later," Nick murmured as he aimed at the door. "Get behind me. Come on."
Judy didn't argue further, and instead fell instep behind Nick as he carefully edged toward the open door. With a small swift kick to the bottom of the door, Nick entered the quiet house, his eyes sweeping the dark kitchen-living space. Judy let out a small gasp as her eyes settled on the scene, and Nick felt her paws clench his shirt. The sycamore furniture was a strew, turned over, or absolutely busted, and the cabinets had been emptied out onto the tiled floor. Making their way further into the house, the couple found that the other rooms were in similar disarray, but there was no one in the home. Nick holstered his gun and began flicking on lights.
"Who would do this?" Judy breathed as she picked up a thrown chair.
"Probably some animal looking for some cash."
"But this is a vacation rental, so how would they know anyone was even here?"
"Got lucky, I guess," Nick stated bitterly as he bent down and started picking up his clothes that had been strewn about the master bedroom.
"Or someone knows we're here."
Nick stopped and glanced up at Judy. She was standing in the doorway, her arms drawn tightly around herself.
"Carrots, this is just some random coincidence."
"Is anything ever a 'random coincidence' for us?"
"You really think someone's targeting us?"
"You don't?" Judy looked near tears, as she seemed to hold herself a little tighter.
"Like who, Carrots?"
"Her."
Judy's face flushed a light pink and she immediately looked at the floor, tears sharply stinging her eyes now. Nick's eyes widened slightly, his heart aching at the sight of the bunny's emotional response.
"Valerie," she said in a hushed voice as if the name were cursed.
Almost seven months prior, Valerie, a manipulative vixen and an ex-girlfriend of Nick's, had kidnapped and tortured Judy for nearly a month. Now in prison, the vixen no longer posed a threat, but her obsession with harming Judy had left behind more than just physical scars.
"Oh, Judy," Nick sighed as he stood and took the bunny into a firm hug that pressed her against his chest. "I know you're scared, but this is nothing more than a coincidence. This isn't her. She can't hurt you anymore, you know that. She's in prison and has no idea that we're even here."
"I know," Judy replied, biting back a small sob.
"Let's see if anything's missing," Nick said softly as he ran a paw over the back of her head. "Then we'll call the police, okay?"
With that, Nick kissed Judy on the cheek and walked into the next room, leaving Judy in the doorway. The rabbit pulled herself together, wiped away her tears, and then stood in thought for several moments. She listened to the distant sound of the ocean waves crashing on the nearby shore. Brief images of Valerie flashed through her mind, and a cold sensation flooded Judy's veins. Was this all just a coincidence that could be explained rationally, or was her gut feeling correct? As much as she wanted to believe in coincidences, Judy silently reminded herself that her gut feeling always won out.